Direct Coupled Thermal-Structural

Analysis in ANSYS WorkBench

Roberto Silva
ESSS
TOPICS

• Multiphysics Coupling

• Thermal-structural coupling

• ANSYS coupled field elements

• Analysis procedure
– Material definition

– Meshing

– Loads and boundary conditions

MULTIPHYSICS COUPLING

• In real-life scenarios, multiple physics interact

simultaneously.
MULTIPHYSICS COUPLING

• Usually, physics coupling is ignored or simplified.

– Simulation engineers are usually single-physics.
– Coupled analyses are more computationally intensive.

• However, coupled analyses provide more realistic

results.

• ANSYS WorkBench is designed to make it easier to

simulate multiphysics coupling.
MULTIPHYSICS COUPLING

ANSYS Mechanical ANSYS CFX / Fluent

Structural Fluid Dyn.

Electromag Thermal
ANSYS Mechanical
ANSYS Maxwell / HFSS
ANSYS CFX / Fluent
THERMAL STRUCTURAL COUPLING

• Thermal-structural coupling can be modeled in the

same ANSYS Mechanical solver.

Mechanical properties based on temperature

Thermal strain

THERMAL STRUCTURAL

Heat generated by plastic strain

Heat generated by friction
THERMAL STRUCTURAL COUPLING

• Some examples:

T S T S T S

Friction stir weld (FSW)

Heat generated in procedure
Thermal expansion of brake disc
rails due to Sun
exposure
THERMAL STRUCTURAL COUPLING

• Regarding coupling methodology:

T S T S T S

Coupling is considered in one direction only

This is usually solved by sequential 1-way coupling

Coupling is considered in both directions

This is can be modeled with 2-way or direct coupling
THERMAL STRUCTURAL COUPLING

• Sequential coupling
THERMAL STRUCTURAL COUPLING

• Direct coupling
THERMAL STRUCTURAL COUPLING

• 1-way thermal to structural coupling can be easily

defined in WorkBench.
– Just need to connect the simulation systems.
THERMAL STRUCTURAL COUPLING

• However, 1-way structural to thermal coupling is not

possible in ANSYS.
– It’s not possible to do this…
THERMAL STRUCTURAL COUPLING

• Direct coupling is available in ANSYS, but not in the

WorkBench interface.
– This system does not exist yet!
THERMAL STRUCTURAL COUPLING

• To represent direct coupling, APDL commands

should be used.
– User must select coupled-field elements.

• 1-way structural to thermal coupling is usually

represented by direct coupling as well.
– It’s easier than export the deformed mesh and results
from the structural analysis to the thermal analysis.
COUPLED-FIELD ELEMENTS

• ANSYS includes the following coupled elements:

PLANE13 SOLID98
SOLID5

PLANE223 SOLID226 SOLID227

Current Technology Elements

COUPLED-FIELD ELEMENTS

• Coupled-field elements can include several DOFs,

and the associated couplings between them.
M u  C u  K u  F  Structural solution

C T  K T   Q

t t
Thermal solution

M  0  u  C  0   u K 

 
K  u  F 
ut
Strong
 0 
 0  T C tu  C t  T   0  K  T  Q
t Coupling

M  0  u C  0   u K  0   u  F   F th   Weak

  
 0 
 0  T  0  C t  T   0  K t  T  Q  Q ted  Coupling
ANALYSIS PROCEDURE

Prep Solu Post

• Geometry • Analysis Settings • Results

• Material • Convergence
• Mesh
• Loads and BC’s

Those are the most important features for a direct-coupled analysis

ANALYSIS PROCEDURE

• Example:
– Steel axissymetric pipe with fins

Convection
h = 200 W/m² °C
Tamb = 20 °C

Temperature = 200 °C Symmetry

Pressure = 5 MPa
ANALYSIS PROCEDURE

• Which system should be used?

• It is recommended to use a Structural system.

– Thermal setup is easier to implement with APDL.
MATERIAL DEFINITION

• Toggling Engineering Data filter off, all properties

are available.
MESHING

• An APDL command is used to change element type.

– Element must be chosen accordingly to mesh geometry!

ET, matid, PLANE223 This changes element type

KEYOPT, matid, 1, 11 This defines thermal-structural behavior
KEYOPT, matid, 3, 1 This redefined axissymetric behavior
LOADS AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

• Structural loads and BC’s are applied as usual.

• For thermal loads, APDL commands are needed.

• Thermal loads must be applied on nodes and

elements, via Named Selections.

• Be careful with !
– It defines zero value to all DOFs, including temperature!
LOADS AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

• Named Selections can be defined with geometry…

Nodes Elements

• … or by direct nodal selection

Elements can be selected based

on nodal selection, using APDL
command ESLN
LOADS AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

• Load definition via APDL

– Refer to ANSYS documentation for more information.

APDL command = D

APDL commands = SF, SFE

APDL command = F

APDL commands = BF, BFE

LOADS AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

D, temp_face, TEMP, 200 Defines temperature

SF, conv_face, CONV, 200, 20 Defines convection
ALLSEL Select all entities
LOADS AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

• A note about units:

– It is highly recommended to use metric system. This
avoids uncommon units defined by the ANSYS solver
when using other systems.
– To be sure, define solver units manually.
SOLUTION

• Analysis can be solved as usual.

• If non-linear behavior is expected, heat flow

convergence can be monitored in WorkBench.
RESULTS

• Thermal results can be plotted with the User-defined

Result.
– Tip: select solution and click Worksheet.
RESULTS
FINAL REMARKS

• Multiphysics simulations can provide more precise

results, evaluating how different phenomena interact.

• Thermal-structural coupling can be solved using the

same ANSYS Mechanical solver.

• Using APDL commands, direct coupling can be

easily implemented in the WorkBench interface.